I’ll start exercising tomorrow. I’ll eat healthier next week. I’ll take better care of myself next month when I have more time and money. We tell ourselves these things every day, but the truth is, they are just excuses. The reality is, your health can’t wait until tomorrow.
In our minds, change is just plain hard. We resist it because it’s work. Research shows it takes at least 21 days to form a new habit. Ouch, that takes commitment. Maybe I’ll start that when I have more time.
NO! Don’t make this your excuse.
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You will never have more time. Life happens, and we all know that. But we need to make the fanatical decision to make changes. Fanatical is a strong word, and it’s the best one to use when you make a choice to commit to something.
Fanatical definition: filled with excessive and single-minded zeal. obsessively concerned with something.
This should be your mind-set starting today about your health.
Your body is your life. It’s that simple. If you’re not taking care of it, you’re just choosing to throw it away. I see this every day at my job, and it makes me sad and truly frustrated. I work as a cardiovascular sonographer (echo tech), and I perform tests on people that are having heart and vascular problems.
Sometimes these problems are congenital, which can’t be helped. But most often, the people I scan simply don’t take care of themselves. They are making a choice not to live their healthiest life and paying the price with illness, doctor’s visits, and hospital stays.
This is our society in general. We eat fast and easy. We don’t drink enough water. We don’t make time to exercise. We don’t get enough sleep.
So, what motivates you to make a change? I’m a facts person and need to see it and be reminded of why my health should be my #1 priority today.
Heart Disease, Cancer, and Alzheimer’s
These diseases are literally killing us and the people we love. The statistics are staggering.
Cardiovascular disease: approximately 84 million people in this country have a form of cardiovascular disease, causing about 2,200 deaths a day, with over 800,000 deaths a year. (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
Cancer: In 2018, an estimated 1,735,350 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 609,640 people will die from the disease. (Cancer.gov)
Alzheimer’s Disease: An estimated 5.7 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2018. This number includes an estimated 5.5 million people age 65 and older and approximately 200,000 individuals under age 65 who have younger-onset Alzheimer’s. Every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s Disease. (ALZ.org)
Your body is in a constant state of inflammation
According to Healthline: Numerous studies in the past two decades have demonstrated links between gut health and the immune system, mood, mental health, autoimmune diseases, endocrine disorders, skin conditions, and cancer. The term “gut microbiome” refers specifically to the microorganisms living in your intestines. A person has about 300 to 500 different species of bacteria in their digestive tract. While some microorganisms are harmful to our health, many are incredibly beneficial and even necessary to a healthy body.
Basically, we need to feed our gut healthy stuff, drink lots of water, and get enough daily exercise to keep our bodies healthy. If not, then we can create problems like leaky gut, which then puts our body into a constant state of inflammation.
This inflammation travels through your blood system and into your brain. The brain goes into a defensive state that creates plaques that lead to brain fog and then Alzheimer’s.
Essentially, what we eat and how well we digest and process it, all contributes to the health of our brain.
Your life and the ones you love
Here’s a simple question: how important are your life and loved ones to you? That answer (hopefully it was VERY) right there should be the driving force that makes you fanatical about taking the very best care of yourself.
My driving force is watching my Mom decline with the Alzheimer’s disease. It’s devastating. My best friend in the world needs constant care and attention. This disease robbed her of her mind and memories. And sadly, we didn’t know 8 years ago that we could prevent it. But today I do, and I can choose to make my health a priority to prevent my genetics from taking me there as well.
I’m learning that Alzheimer’s is a preventable disease. The book, The End of Alzheimer’s by Dr. Dale Bredesen, is full of hope and actionable ways to prevent it.
If you’re not working every day to grow your healthiest life, then you’re making the choice to throw it away. Living with chronic illness, disease, or moving towards Alzheimer’s can be things that we can begin to prevent today.
Don’t let your loved ones watch you deteriorate, take care of you, put you in a nursing home, or mourn your early passing. Work on making healthy changes in your life today.
No more excuses!
Grab my free printable below with 5 easy things you can start doing TODAY to begin to grow your healthiest life.
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